âLi, heâs actually managed to score from shooting that far away!â
Shen Qingyan, who was watching the game with Su Li from the courtside, was pleasantly surprised to see the ball passing cleanly through the hoop. She had obviously not expected that Xiao Luo could have scored the basket with a jump-shot half a meter outside the three-point arc.
âItâs pure luck,â Su Li said.
Luo Pingxiang and Su Xiaobei, who was standing next to them, were cheering excitedly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Back in the court, Yang Hongzhi had just retrieved the ball, and smiling, he swaggered toward Xiao Luo and said, âNot bad, youâve got a good startâ¦â
Xiao Luo looked at him impassively and didnât say a word.
âOkay, then, Letâs continue.â
Yang Hongzhi passed the ball to Xiao Luo, then resumed a defensive stance, he did not believe that Xiao Luo would actually score another one from outside the three-point line. He was convinced that the previous shot was purely luck and not made with skill.
The moment Xiao Luo had received the pass, he bent his knees and jumped on the spot again. He held the ball with his left palm supporting the side of the ball and right hand behind the ball, just above his shoulder, and his elbow bent a ninety-degrees. He kept his eyes fixed at the hoop as he transferred the momentum from the leap to drive the ball through, then straightening his elbow and his wrist straight over the top in the follow-through to the shot.
It was a perfectly executed shotâ¦
Despite anticipating the shot, Yang Hongzhi could still not get to the ball in time and watched helplessly as the ball left Xiao Luoâs hand. The ball traveled in a precise arc once again and scored with that familiar thud.
Another three-pointer right into the basket!
This time, both Shen Qingyan and Su Li were visibly shocked, but they wondered if this shot was another lucky one.
Yang Hongzhi wasnât impressed. In fact, he was vexed, and the expression on his face showedâhe looked like he was forcibly fed with prison gruel.
One of his bodyguards picked up the ball and passed it to him. He held the ball with both hands and forcing a smile, said, âwell, well, a consecutive three-point shot, Mr. Xiao, seems like youâve been practicing a bit.â
Xiao Luo could not be bothered to respond; as Yang Hongzhi had tried to humiliate him, Xiao Luo was now mentally prepared to return the gestureâhe would utterly destroy him. Xiao Luo did not have to redeem the systemâs basketball skill as he was already above average player. However, both King of Mercenaries Constitution and Yi Jinjing did enhance his abilities and pushed his skill level to a whole new height. In his current form, heâd be able to even take on NBA players, let alone Yang Hongzhi.
âIf you can score another, youâll have my respect!â
Yang Hongzhi threw down the gauntlet, he wasnât going to allow himself to make the same mistake. He was a little more aggressive now and forcefully passed the ball to Xiao Luo.
He put the second basket down to his own lapse rather than Xiao Luoâs ability, and this time he did not lower his stance as much, staying slightly upright to make the jump quicker for the block.
And just as he read it, Xiao Luo was again going through the same motions as expected, jumping immediately after receiving the ball to shoot. Yang Hongzhi smirked, stomped his feet, jumped high in the air, and slammed his right hand down at the ball. His intention was to block the shot as hard as possibleâpartly to quell his anger and because he knew itâd undoubtedly look impressive.
He may have been too ambitious and fixated with looking impressive, as his blocking hand was just shy of a few centimeters as the ball sailed over him. And before he could even turn, he heard the familiar thud; just like the previous shots, it went through the hoop cleanly once again.
Three tries, and three baskets, and all taken from outside the three-point line!
As Yang Hongzhi cushioned his landing with bent knees, he still couldnât believe what had happened. He timed his block to perfection this time, and yet, Xiao Luo still got the shot through, how was that even possible?
The two bodyguards were equally stunned as this was the first time that they had seen anyone score three consecutively shots, let alone three-pointers when playing against their young master.
âLi, where did you find this man, heâs quite interesting!â
Shen Qingyan started to take notice of Xiao Luo more seriously for the first time. Initially, she expected Xiao Luo to be absolutely destroyed by Yang Hongzhi, but the opposite seemed to have held true.
âI met him at Jiangcheng during my last concert.â
As Su Li spoke, her eyes were on trained on Xiao Luo, and she was surprised by what she saw. She knew better than anyone that Yang Hongzhi was a genuine sports fanatic, and he had even hired renowned coaches from CBA to train and mentor him in basketball. Besides, he was very active in kickboxing and went to the gym regularly, making him extremely fit, physically. One could say that, when it came to basketball across the Xiahai area, Yang Hongzhi was virtually invincible.
âYay! Daddyâs the greatest⦠fighting, daddy!â
Su Xiaobei was jumping up and down excitedly, clapping her tiny hands and cheering for her daddy, Xiao Luo. Standing next to her, Luo Pingxiang was equally animated.
But to Yang Hongzhi, hearing that cheer was a mortal stab to the heart. His mouth twitched in spasms, and he could no longer retain his smile. Furiously, he snapped at Xiao Luo, âDo you only know how to shoot?!â
âShooting is my strength, thatâs how you win a game!â Xiao Luo retorted, clearly intending to get under his skin.
Yang Hongzhiâs face darkened with rage, and he no longer smiled. âFine, continue then! Letâs see if you can land every single shot!â
His bodyguard threw him the ballâ¦
Yang Hongzhi had now pushed Xiao Luo further toward the mid-court, and Xiao Luo was now nearly one and a half meters from the three-point arc. At such a distance, the probability of scoring a basket was much lower, even for a professional player.
âLetâs continue!â
Yang Hongzhi took a deep breath and passed the ball to Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo smirked at him, then without any hesitation, he jumped immediately to shoot after receiving the ball, just like how he had done it in the last three.
Despite the longer distance, Xia Luoâs shot was an exact repeat of the previous three, and it almost seemed like the basketball had grown a pair of eyes and was guiding itself toward the basket.
Then, the fifth shot scoredâ¦
The sixth shot scoredâ¦
The seventh shot scoredâ¦
And even the eighth shot landed! Both Shen Qingyan and Su li could not believe what they had just witnessed and were now truly awed, to the point they had to catch their breath. All eight shots were executed with the same techniqueâall scored by a jump shot taken outside the three-point line. Although there were no exciting passages of offensive and defensive play nor the clash between bodies, the perfect execution of Xiao Luoâs technique was more than a treat to watch.
Yang Hongzhiâs two bodyguards kept rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Only Su Xiaobei was cheering out loud for Xiao Luoâshe knew in her heart that her daddy was awesome and would score every ball consecutively.
Yang Hongzhiâs state of mind was a rollercoaster ride that started off with disdain, then he was surprised, shocked, and finally driven to anger. At that moment, Yang Hongzhi looked like he could swallow Xiao Luo up alive. From the third shot on, he had been trying to block Xiao Luoâs attempts, but each time it floated only centimeters from his fingertips, before going through the hoop.
The score was now, eight to zero, and Yang Hongzhi was seething, what a humiliation it was to him.
âDamn catfish!â
Yang Hongzhi muttered a curse and stared hard at Xiao Luo; if he did not hate Xiao Luo before, he did now.
Xiao Luo chuckled at Yang Hongzhiâhere was a man who readily insulted others but was not mentally tough enough to be abused himself.
âThere are two more shots!â
Yang Hongzhi hissed through clenched teeth, and he gripped the ball hard in his hands and stared viciously at Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo had a faint smile on his face. He raised his index finger at Yang Hongzhi and then gestured by curling it back to signal for him to pass the ball.
â¦